blame been derived concept rather

Water Weird Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

those its summoner declares as off limits. When slain, a water weird becomes an inanimate pool of water. Good and Evil Weirds. Like most elementals, a water weird has no concept of good or evil

interlopers rather than kill them, while a neutral evil water weird kills its victims for pleasure and might turn against its summoner. A water weird loses its evil alignment if its waters are cleansed

Feral Tiefling

Species Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable. Infernal Bloodline Tieflings are derived from human bloodlines, and in the broadest

three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that

Tiefling Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable. Infernal Bloodline Tieflings are derived from human bloodlines, and in the broadest

three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that

Tiefling Names

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

Tiefling Names Tiefling names fall into three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language

, passed down through generations, that reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and

Firbolg Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

the group’s needs, but the effect each action will have on the forest and the rest of the natural world. Firbolg tribes would rather go hungry than strain the land during a famine. Hidden

Shepherds As caretakers of the land, firbolgs prefer to remain out of sight and out of mind. They don’t try to dominate nature, but rather seek to ensure that it prospers and survives according to its

Tiefling Names

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

Tiefling Names Tiefling names fall into three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal

concept and then try to embody that concept. For some, the chosen name is a noble quest. For others, it’s a grim destiny. Male Infernal Names: Akmenos, Amnon, Barakas, Damakos, Ekemon, Iados, Kairon

Tabaxi Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

of the world beyond their home. Barterers of Lore Tabaxi treasure knowledge rather than material things. A chest filled with gold coins might be useful to buy food or a coil of rope, but it’s

, prophecy, clan history, and other esoteric factors. Tabaxi names can apply to both males and females, and most use nicknames derived from or inspired by their full names. Clan names are usually based

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a goliath dies attempting to keep up, or the goliath slips

away in the night to seek the cold will of fate. In some ways, the goliath drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A goliath would much rather die in

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

other useful items, but if they are at risk of discovery, they run away rather than attack anyone in the house. By fleeing before they can be seen or identified, they avoid getting into a situation

divination (to find raw materials and foresee threats to the tribe). The main reason why kobolds depend on arcane magic rather than divine is Kurtulmak’s imprisonment, which makes it difficult for

Character Names

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

names, that’s fine. If the group would rather take the characters and their names a little more seriously, urge Bob’s player to come up with a more appropriate name. Player character names should match

each other in flavor or concept, and they should also match the flavor of your campaign world — so should the nonplayer characters’ names and place names you create. Travok and Kairon don’t want to undertake a quest for Lord Cupcake, visit Gumdrop Island, or take down a crazy wizard named Ray.

Simic Scientist

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

commoner’s clothes, a book of research notes, an ink pen, a bottle of squid ink, a flask of oil (made from blubber), a vial of acid (derived from digestive juices), a vial of fish scales, a vial

Everything I do is an attempt to impress someone I love. Flaws d6 Flaw 1 I have a rather embarrassing mutation that I do everything I can to keep hidden. 2 I’m more

Javenesh Stoutclaw

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

effort to get to know him, rather than be put off by his size and rough exterior. Extracurriculars: Intramural Silkball Club Job: Bow’s End Tavern assistant manager Bond Boon: Javenesh’s

reputation as a tough guy follows you. If peers would be aggressive toward you, they quickly back down. Bond Bane: The servers at Bow’s End Tavern know you are no friend to Javenesh. At the slightest sign of trouble, they blame you and ask you to leave.

Fate of the Hourglass Coven

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

one of the hags is still alive. The surviving hags can sense when Zybilna is released from temporal stasis—or, rather, they can sense when their hold over Prismeer is lost. The instant Zybilna regains

, preferring to let them stew in exile. If all three hags are still alive, the coven stays together even though its members constantly blame one another for their failures. The hags are united by

Survival of the Fittest

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to

themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A goliath would much rather die in battle, at the peak of strength and skill, than endure the slow decay of old age. Few folk

Origin of the Ordning

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

the ordning in some mythic future. Giants on some worlds (including Eberron) have no concept of the ordning at all. Such giants might think of themselves as a single species, with the differences

among giant kinds reflecting a cultural or geographical distinction rather than an inherent one. They might live in bands composed of multiple giant kinds or family groups of a single kind. Or giants of

Purphoros as Campaign Villain

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

Purphoros as Campaign Villain As a campaign villain, Purphoros is more likely to be driven by his impulses rather than by any coherent plan. He might begin by encouraging his champions to create

. The gods blame Purphoros for the attack, but he is too proud, and too fond of Petros, to stop the attacks.

Character Advancement

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

taking part in a play session. A character reaches 1 checkpoint for each hour an adventure is designed to last. Note that the award is based on the adventure’s projected playing time, rather than the

designed to take 2 hours, the character reaches 3 checkpoints. Playing time might seem like an odd way to measure experience awards, but the concept is in keeping with how a shared campaign is meant to

Secret

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

holy symbol that represents that divinity. Some clerics, especially in a world like Eberron, serve a whole pantheon, rather than a single deity. In certain campaigns, a cleric might instead serve a

cosmic force, such as life or death, or a philosophy or concept, such as love, peace, or one of the nine alignments. Chapter 1 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide explores options like these, in the section

Kruphix's Influence

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

the few who understand the role of mortal belief in shaping the younger gods—a concept even most gods don’t fully comprehend. Kruphix is the only being who has the ability to seal the borders between

world when he bound all the other gods within the fabric of Nyx. Erebos and Kruphix blame one another for Klothys’s recent emergence from the Underworld, a situation neither seems able to control

Water Weird

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)

. Good and Evil Weirds. Like most elementals, a water weird has no concept of good or evil. However, a water weird bound to a sacred or befouled source of water begins to take on the nature of that site

, becoming neutral good or neutral evil. A neutral good water weird tries to frighten away interlopers rather than kill them, while a neutral evil water weird kills its victims for pleasure and might

Darklords

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

adventures rather than saving them for distant climactic plots. Darklords Don’t Realize They’re Darklords. With a few exceptions, Darklords don’t realize they occupy a special place in the world. Their

concept of how long they’ve lived, how many times they’ve died, or why they returned to life. Should a Darklord fall, the temporary defeat lasts until they’re restored by the Dark Powers. In their

Yuan-ti Cities

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

yuan-ti content themselves with maintaining these ancient places rather than building new ones for their needs. Although these sites are hundreds or even thousands of years old, they don’t look or feel

reflects human ideas about art and beauty. Over time this perspective was skewed toward the concept that the snake is the perfect form, so serpents are a common theme in their aesthetic. The major

Rangers

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

responded with a whoo, then went off into a complicated series of chattering hoots and whoos. Montolio took it all in, weighing every detail. With the help of his friends, particularly this rather

graves or tombs. Many of these symbols were derived from elven lore or borrowed from groups like the Harpers. While by no means a secret language, these trail marks are often obtuse to non-rangers

Gnome Adventurers

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

of better understanding the workings of the multiverse. A Gnome’s Role Gnomes are valuable members of an adventuring party for a number of reasons, derived from both their innate abilities and their

cautious, brings a sense of duty rather than a sense of humor to an adventuring group. With their grit and iron will, deep gnomes meet adversity with hammers, picks, and their dour, dry wit — or no wit at all — as their weapons of choice.

Meeting Captain Zodge

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

destroyed. Coincidence? I think not. “The knights of Elturgard call themselves Hellriders. A few of them escaped the destruction and think we’re somehow to blame for Elturel’s downfall. What a bunch

his offer. The Flaming Fist is empowered to draft adventurers in times of emergency. He can execute them on the spot for refusing to help, though he would rather they accept. He gives each character a

Introduction

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

you receive a cancer diagnosis or a similar health news, you probably appreciate that concept a little more than other people. Watching someone you love waste away is a terrible thing. You want a

magic button to bring things back to the way they should be, this person you love so much restored to who they really are rather than what cancer is grinding them down into. It’s easy to give in to

Appendix A: Shared Campaigns

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

hard to keep a campaign going. Enter the concept of the shared campaign. In a shared campaign, more than one member of the group can take on the role of DM. A shared campaign is episodic rather than

Enemies All Around

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

to possess the material goods in a stronghold’s hoard, and would much rather snatch up living treasure. Using its powers of deception, a green dragon might try to entice dwarves it encounters to ally

dwarves must be to blame, the dragon engages them in a wider conflict, and the dwarves respond in kind. Even if neither side destroys the other, both will be severely weakened, after which the rival

Modifying a Class

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

, paladins might not swear their oaths to ideals, but instead swear fealty to powerful sorcerers. To capture this story concept, you could build a new paladin spell list with spells meant to protect

opportunity to develop the character’s story and that of your world, rather than shutting down possibilities. Substituting Class Features If one or more features of a given class don’t exactly fit the theme

Eladrin and the Feywild

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

are. Elves from the Material Plane who have researched eladrin culture blame these traits on the influence of the Feywild. As part of their argument, they point out that eladrin who spend a

because of their ancestry, they are alone among elves in feeling little affinity for Arvandor. Eladrin don’t long to end their cycle of rebirth and rejoin Corellon, but rather to meld with the Feywild

Staff

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated

concept behind the hirelings and selecting one proficiency for each. The DM can then customize the hirelings as desired, perhaps by adding additional proficiencies or adjusting their combat statistics

(sailors for a seagoing franchise, engineers for a giant hollow statue, and so on). Crew do not leave a franchise and cannot perform franchise tasks. They typically run rather than fight back when attacked

Rejecting the Ordning

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

one their kind traditionally values. These are often giants whose ranking within their kind is low. For example, a contemplative cloud giant might pursue knowledge rather than wealth, or a weak frost

otherwise enjoy in the ordning. When giants join the cults of demon lords, they reject the entire concept of the ordning—the idea that there is any kind of order to the multiverse at all, which is the

Mind Flayer Magic

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

after death would its consciousness be cast into oblivion. Two divine entities have long been associated with mind flayers by the scholars of other races. These aren’t deities, but rather

attitude — actions that have often been misinterpreted by observers as worship. Maanzecorian. The entity/concept called Maanzecorian embodies a complete comprehension of knowledge. It is a state

Yartar

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

“civilized” folk for a short time — but occasionally, a strong hand or a skilled warrior can be culled from the bunch. While this event is going on, Yartar is overrun with visitors it would rather not welcome

, it has not been mentioned in her presence since. Some blame the murder on the Hand of Yartar, the local thieves’ guild, but I believe that Kaidrod was killed, and the Waterbaron was implicated, in

Other Religious Systems

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Philosophies Not all divine powers need to be derived from deities. In some campaigns, believers hold enough conviction in their ideas about the universe that they gain magical power from that conviction. In

rather than from a specific nature deity, some clerics devote themselves to ideals rather than to a god. Paladins might serve a philosophy of justice and chivalry rather than a specific deity. Forces and

D&D Beyond

Search Results